Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the position regarding the draft consumer rights directive; if he is satisfied that the existing rights of consumers here, such as the right to reject will be retained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19182/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The proposal for a Consumer Rights Directive was published in October 2008 and brings together in updated and consolidated form four existing Directives on doorstep selling, distance sales, consumer sales and guarantees, and unfair contract terms. Unlike the Directives it is intended to replace, the proposal has been drafted on a full harmonisation basis and, if adopted on this basis, would preclude member states from going beyond its protections in national legislation.

In the case of a complex proposal like the proposed Consumer Rights Directive, arriving at an overall assessment of its implications for consumer rights is not a straightforward matter. Some proposals, such as the proposed extension of the withdrawal period for distance and off-premises contracts from seven to fourteen days and the provision that risk would pass with delivery in consumer sales contracts, would enhance Irish consumer rights. Other provisions, such as those on unfair contract terms, broadly reflect the existing legal position here and would neither enhance nor diminish consumer rights.

Concerns about the proposal's impact for consumer rights in Ireland centre mainly on its provisions on consumer remedies for faulty goods and in particular, as the Deputy's question suggests, on their implications for what is known as the right to reject. By this is meant the right to return faulty goods, obtain a refund of the price, and, in so doing, to terminate the contract. This is a well-established feature of our sale of goods law and, though qualified by quite complex provisions on the acceptance and rejection of goods, is an important safeguard for consumers and one that materially strengthens their hand in dealing with recalcitrant traders.

Though the proposed Directive makes provision for a broadly similar right to rescind the contract where goods are faulty, this applies only where the primary remedies of repair or replacement are unlawful, impossible or disproportionate, or are not made available by the trader, or fail to remedy the defect within a reasonable time or without significant inconvenience to the consumer, or if the same defect recurs more than once within a short period of time. A fully harmonised provision along these lines would, if adopted, mean that the right to reject would be a remedy of second rather than first resort for faulty goods. Though consumers are satisfied in many cases with the repair or replacement of faulty goods, the relegation of the right to reject to the status of a secondary remedy would have, and would be seen to have, an adverse effect on Irish consumer rights.

The Sales Law Review Group, which was established in November 2008, in order, among other things, to assess the implications of the proposed Directive for Irish consumer rights and law, produced a comprehensive assessment of the proposal in a position paper published in July. Though the Review Group acknowledged the positive elements in the proposal, it stated that the provisions on remedies for faulty goods and a related provision that would reduce the liability period for faulty goods under Irish law from six to two years presented 'the greatest threat to the protections currently enjoyed by Irish consumers'. My Department has taken careful note of the points made by the Review Group and the Group's assessment has been of considerable benefit in informing our approach to the discussions on the proposed Directive.

I would like to assure the Deputy that my officials have expressed our concerns about the relevant aspects of the proposed Directive in clear and forthright terms. Those concerns were restated at political level in a policy debate on the proposed Directive at the Competitiveness Council in December 2009. It is important to recognise however that discussions on the proposed Directive have a considerable way to go at both official and Ministerial level and in the European Parliament. The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection of the European Parliament is currently considering the proposal, and the proposal is expected to have a first reading in the Parliament before the end of the year. While I am not in a position to disclose the state of play of discussions on the proposed Directive, I can say that the European Commission is fully aware of our and other member states' concerns about aspects of the proposal. In an address to the European Consumer Day Conference on 15 March 2010, Vice-President Reding who now has responsibility for the proposal stated that 'it is clear that the proposal as it is today does not offer the right level of protection on all issues' and expressed a willingness to work with the Parliament and the Member States to see whether 'increasing the level of protection for certain rules would lead to a better outcome for consumers, without putting too high a burden on businesses'.